WESGRO THE WESTERN CAPE PROPERTY REPORT 2018/19 This report is brought to you by WESGRO, trade and investment promotion initiatives, the official tourism, trade and investment and facilitate the links between business and promotion agency for Cape Town and the government decision makers. Western Cape. To this end, we are often the first port of Our overall mandate is to promote economic call for foreign buyers, local exporters and all activity and facilitate job creation by marketing investors looking towards the ever-growing Cape Town and the Western Cape as potential of our region. a competitive business and leisure destination This publication is produced by the Research globally. We do this by attracting and retaining as well as the Marketing and Communications foreign direct investment, landing film and media divisions within Wesgro as an analytical introduction productions, growing exports, and ensuring more into the opportunities to be found in the Western business and leisure tourists visit our province. Cape across the commercial, retail, industrial and And we do this by facilitating important dialogues residential property sectors. between the private and public sectors in our region and beyond. For the full range of research and documentation We look to align the Western Cape with produced by Wesgro, and for further information national priorities in terms of economic growth, on our organisation, please visit www.wesgro.co.za 02 Forewords THE CAPE WINELANDS DISTRICT: 51 More good reasons to invest in 04 Welcome to this report STELLENBOSCH, PAARL Saldanha Bay and Vredenberg 05 A guide to the research & FRANSCHHOEK 52 Commercial property 40 Introducing the Cape Winelands 53 Industrial property THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN District 54 Residential property 06 Introducing the City of Cape Town 41 Spotlight on economic sectors 07 Spotlight on economic sectors 41 More good reasons to invest THE GARDEN ROUTE DISTRICT: 07 More good reasons to invest in the Cape Winelands GEORGE in Cape Town 42 Commercial property 58 Introducing the Garden Route 09 Introduction to the City of Cape 45 Industrial property District and George Municipality Town property market 46 Residential property 59 Spotlight on economic sectors 10 Commercial property 59 More good reasons to invest 23 Industrial property THE WEST COAST DISTRICT: in George 31 Residential property SALDANHA BAY & VREDENBURG 60 Commercial property 50 Introducing the West Coast District 61 Industrial property 50 Understanding the Industrial 62 Residential property Development Zone (IDZ) CONTENTS 51 Spotlight on economic sectors Acknowledgements and credits FOREWORDS Forewords FOREWORD BY the private and public sector in determining MINISTER DAVID MAYNIER future investments as well as the building of MEC for Finance & Economic Opportunities infrastructure, and will play a significant role as in the Western Cape the Western Cape moves towards its vision for The growth of the Western Cape economy sustainable economic growth in our province. and the all-important creation of more jobs is the engine that drives the work of the Western Cape Government. But that engine FOREWORD BY requires a physical space; a place to set up ALDERMAN JAMES VOS shop; to provide offices and factory space; Mayoral Committee Member for Economic on which to build homes for its employees. Opportunities and Asset Management, This physical space is property, and it is City of Cape Town often the foundation, quite literally, on which Making up the most significant contribution to this investment is built. publication, are the property values to be found The Ministry for Finance & Economic within the City of Cape Town, demonstrating not Opportunities therefore welcomes the first only the diversity of commercial, retail, industrial edition of Wesgro’s Property Report on the and residential opportunities to be found in our Western Cape. It is the first publication of metropole, but its contribution to the economy of its kind in South Africa that brings together the Western Cape as a whole. statistical information and analysis on We look forward, as a City, to the value this a number of districts, across all property publication will add to the many other initiatives sectors within those districts. It will therefore, which drive investment into our municipality, and no doubt, be an invaluable tool for both have no doubt that it will strengthen the work of 2 WESGRO THE WESTERN CAPE PROPERTY REPORT 2018/19 our own Invest Cape Town Initiative to build fluctuations in our national economy, our our city’s brand. region nevertheless remains an investment There are many reasons why Cape Town has destination which will continue to appreciate clocked up the accolades that have come its steadily. There are few destinations in the way, and one of the reasons is that it is often world to rival ours on its geographic, economic the first with innovative projects that set a and natural qualities. standard for other cities and provinces – in A property industry also requires the highest South Africa and beyond – to follow. This levels of co-operation between government publication is one such example, and we and the private sector. To ensure investment, congratulate Wesgro on another research this also requires co-operation in terms of milestone attained. the collection and sharing of data – facts and figures that enable investors to make educated decisions. FOREWORD BY The WCPDF therefore applauds Wesgro DEON VAN ZYL for taking the initiative in producing this Chairperson, Western Cape Property publication, both to attract investment to the Development Forum province, and to reassure current property A country’s property market reflects the state owners across all property sectors that of a country’s economy, and confidence and fixed capital investment is receiving serious security in this market sector reflects investor attention. The WCPDF looks forward to this confidence in the future. publication becoming an annual investment To this end, while Cape Town and report that reflects the state of the Western the Western Cape are not immune to Cape’s growth-economy. 3 WELCOME Welcome to the first edition of our Property Report on the Western Cape LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Vredenburg which form part of the West A primary objective of Wesgro is to provide Coast District. The map opposite indicates research and data, customised for the Western where these are to be found in the Western Cape, to assist both current and future Cape province. investors to make key decisions around the various markets and sectors in our region. For each of these areas, we have divided However, we believe these markets and our research into: sectors have a common denominator in the A brief overview of the area, the key value of property – the fixed capital asset economic sectors to be found in it, and that the lion’s share of investors will require a variety of good reasons to consider it to make their investment visions a reality, for investment whether that asset falls into commercial, Property values for the 2018/19 financial retail, industrial or residential property. year in terms of In other words, we believe that property is Vacant land for sale (commercial and a key driver of investment into any region, and industrial) often the first consideration that investors will Commercial properties values, for sale make when deciding on their locale. Just as it and to rent is true for property across the globe location Retail property values, for sale and to rent really does count, and the Western Cape offers Industrial property values, for sale and some of the best locations in the world. to rent To this end, we bring you the inaugural edition An overview of the residential property of what will become our annual Western Cape market. Property Report, focusing our attention this year on the City of Cape Town, the Municipality of A BUYER’S MARKET George located in the Garden Route District, While the phrase is usually used most Developement Forum Sam Fourie courtesy of Western Cape Property the three towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and commonly to describe a point in time in a Franschhoek that fall within the Cape residential property cycle, in the case of this Winelands District, and Saldanha Bay and publication we believe that the Western Cape PHOTOGRAPH WESGRO THE WESTERN CAPE PROPERTY REPORT 2018/19 A GUIDE TO THE RESEARCH The following outlines the primary sources that have been used through this report. WEST In terms of municipal data on each region: COAST Apart from data provided by Wesgro’s own Vredenberg Saldanha Research division, information has been sourced Bay Paarl from the Municipal Economic Review and Outlook (MERO), 2018 produced by the Western Franschhoek Stellenbosch GARDEN ROUTE Cape Provincial Government; the South African George Economic Indicators Database, Quantec EasyData CITY OF CAPE WINELANDS CAPE and the Economic Performance Indicators for Cape TOWN Town (EPIC), 2018 (Q3 and Q4), produced by the City of Cape Town. Other secondary sources of data are credited in the publication as per the footnotes provided. right now is in a buyer’s market across all its property nodes, making it a highly attractive In terms of property values for all Commercial, option for those looking to make fixed capital Retail and Industrial properties: investments for the first time, or for those The data accumulated and analysed in terms of expanding on their existing investments. properties for sale or to rent were as at what was After many years of high property price available on the market at the time the research growth, due in no small part to the desirability was conducted during the period January to April of the Western Cape, along with strong semi- 2019, and as per the asking prices loaded onto gration trends from other parts of the country, the Property.24 website by real estate agencies property values are stabilising throughout the and commercial/industrial property brokers.